129
My Villains Chapter 129
34. Soul Sorcerer (1)
As the sun was setting, a pure white owl and a hawk flew into the camp one after the other.
"Peep, peep!"
The druid Zhanabas welcomed the birds with a brief conversation and provided them with enough food before sending them off.
"The battle will start soon."
"Finally."
The party immediately prepared to move. Knowing that something might happen on the mountain, they gathered various camping supplies like pots and blankets.
The hunting team led by Utequais was already familiar with the surrounding terrain and the forest path leading to the mountain peak.
Just as the sun had completely set and they were about to light the torches, a flying bird landed on Zhanabas' arm.
"The battle has begun."
"The birds are doing their part well."
"We were lucky. They were all faithful friends."
However, Zhanabas’ luck ended there. No more birds came during the nearly half-day climb up the mountain.
"It must be because of the monstrous birds living on the cliffs."
"Monstrous birds? What are you talking about?"
It was Atalante who answered my question.
"Perophica. They have a habitat around here."
Perophica, a monster resembling a magpie with feathers as hard as metal. While not individually threatening, they travel in packs, making them quite difficult to deal with in games.
As I scanned the night sky with a wary eye, Atalante added,
"With our numbers, we don't need to hunt them. We just need to avoid their nests."
"How do we avoid the nests?"
"Well, if we look closely, we should be able to avoid them. Just be careful."
Atalante shrugged, and I chuckled. At that moment, Ellen, who was perched on my arm, tugged at my collar.
"Stop chatting and keep an eye on the front."
"Ah, got it."
"Wait, but..."
Ellen examined the nape of my neck and narrowed her eyes.
"What's this mark?"
"Huh?"
"There's some kind of red mark here."
Atalante quickly covered her mouth, her eyes wide.
"It looks like a bite mark or something."
"Oh, really?"
I desperately tried to calm my nerves. Feeling the blood rushing beneath my skin, I tilted my chin and asked casually,
"Where? Did a bug bite me or something?"
"No, it's not a bug bite, it looks more like a human bite mark... Huh?"
"What is it?"
"...Never mind, I must have seen it wrong."
Phew, that's a relief. It's a good thing I was able to keep my voice calm, despite this trace...
Just then, a strange sound came from up ahead - a shrill, magpie-like cry, but much more ferocious.
"...Tsk, I wasn't cautious enough."
As I drew out Hrunting, the bejeweled Ellen stepped back.
"Utequais! Come forward!"
"I'm on it!"
At my shout, Utequais, who had been guarding the rear, quickly climbed up the slope.
Screeching, dozens of Perophica with gleaming wings revealed themselves. While the other mercenaries hurriedly took up their battle formations, Atalante approached me.
"Hey, Nix. I just wanted to say, it's not on purpose."
"I don't know how to respond to that."
My muttering made Atalante let out a chuckle.
Then, Ellen's voice rang out.
"Archuire ensa—ra!"
The fiery arrow shot past my hair and struck the leading Perophica.
"Oh, how scary."
Violet radiance burst from Atalante's wide-open eyes. Soon, her entire body was enveloped in a faint glow.
"A-takhtarq!"
Two violet spears shot up from under her tied-up mane. As the spears extended, Atalante launched herself, swinging her white talons.
Three Perophica fell to the ground with a thud.
Whenever I see her, I can't help but feel that Atalante, wielding the violet spears, resembles a majestic eagle with purple feathers and a white beak. Her graceful and resilient movements make me involuntarily swallow my saliva.
...What on earth am I thinking?
I shook my head and started swinging Hrunting. Occasionally deflecting the ones aiming for my face or chest with my shield, I slashed the Perophica with precise yet light strokes.
"Come at me!"
Utequais roared and swung his stone hammer fiercely. However, the agile Perophica easily evaded the hammer and instead pecked at Utequais.
Whoosh!
One Perophica was knocked back, its starry back shimmering, but the rest relentlessly struck with their beaks.
"Gua lune'telil!"
Utequais exhaled sharply and drew a hatchet, no, a shock war mace from his waist. Whenever the mace swung, a Perophica would fall, but despite their comrades' deaths, the monsters stubbornly continued to bite Utequais.
The Perophica's razor-sharp beaks quickly turned Utequais into a bloody mess. However, the beaks could only tear his skin, unable to inflict any fatal wounds, thanks to Utequais's recently enhanced ‘Iron Skin’ ability.
Still, I couldn't just stand and watch.
"Phew."
I controlled the spraying blood and unleashed it skyward.
Kwagak!
The violent blood burst enveloped the Perophica. As they hesitated for a moment,
"Dek saenkilr!"
The young Mage Ethan Lao shouted. Suddenly, a viscous magic flow assaulted the Perophica.
Clack, screech!
As their wing flaps slowed, the monsters fell to the ground, screeching in panic. Of course, the grounded monsters posed no threat to us.
Is that a ‘Slow’ spell? Quite useful.
"Finish them all off!"
At Amias' command, the mercenaries guarding the rear line charged in, weapons raised.
After the battle, the regrouping was quickly completed. Or rather, we hurried to wrap it up.
Since the freckled Mira had sustained significant injuries, we used a few potions to heal her, and we abandoned the Perophica corpses.
There were two reasons why we were in such a hurry.
The first was the news the brown-feathered cuckoo had delivered to Druid Zhanabas.
"I never imagined the lord would be losing."
At my muttering, Zhanabas spoke up.
"We can't be certain yet. The cuckoo is a clever fellow, but it doesn't have the eyes to read the battlefield."
"If there are those who have abandoned their weapons and fled, the situation can't be good."
"Indeed."
If they had taken hundreds of veteran mercenaries and still been defeated, the situation must be dire, even if the details were unclear. We couldn't afford to leisurely continue our hike.
The second reason we were hurrying was the strange signs.
According to Atalante, the Perophica, while naturally aggressive, were not so foolish as to fight to the last one in their flock. There must have been some external force at work, causing them to behave abnormally.
"Phoenix."
"Hm?"
"I can feel it now. Tremendous magical power."
Ellen, perched on my arm, had her eyes tightly shut. Her golden hair was flickering, indicating she had activated her magic.
"...The flow of magical power is accelerating."
"Accelerating?"
"Yes, I'm sure of it."
The druid Zhanabas interjected with an urgent tone.
"He's hurrying. He must have sensed our approach."
"He sensed us? How?"
"He is a powerful sorcerer. He must have many means."
Zhanabas tugged at his hair, berating himself.
"We shouldn't have hesitated, afraid of those Anupads. We should have gone straight up the mountain as soon as we entered the forest."
"...Now is not the time to regret. Everyone, hurry! Let's go faster!"
After nearly running up the mountain, we finally reached the summit.
"...What, there's nothing here?"
"What happened?"
As Bald Steedman and lanky Boonie muttered, the summit was just a flat ground with a small pile of stones, with no signs of human presence.
"Scatter! Scatter and look for anything strange!"
At my shout, the mercenaries who had put down their packs dispersed in all directions. Ellen, clutching the hem of my clothes, murmured softly.
"This magical power... I can feel the power of the spirits."
"I see. He's pulling the spirits into the material plane, isn't he?"
"That's not all. It's not just the power of the spirits."
The hand gripping my clothes was trembling. Ellen took a deep breath and continued.
"I can also feel the power of the Underworld."
"...The Underworld," people commonly believed that there are nine dimensions in the world. Centered on the ‘Material Plane’ where people live, there are four dimensions of ‘Good’ and four dimensions of ‘Evil’.
The dimensions of Good are said to be the ‘Celestial Plane’, the ‘Spirit Plane’, the ‘Eternal Plane’, and the higher ‘Luminous Plane’.
The dimensions of Evil are the ‘Underworld’, the ‘Purgatory’, the ‘Illusion Plane’, and beyond them, the ‘Dark Plane’.
It is also said that there are countless outer planes beyond these nine dimensions, but this is considered a mere rumor.
But to feel the power of both the Spirit Plane and the Underworld in one place?
"What the hell does that mean?"
"I don't know. I don't understand it either."
As Ellen was perplexed, the gentle Jenesa suddenly shouted.
"There's something strange here!"
I quickly went to take a look, and saw what seemed to be a wooden board reinforced with iron, wedged between the piles of stones.
"What's that?"
"Move aside, let me see."
As the mercenaries took turns examining the stones, the gray-haired Simos made a sharp sound.
"Ah, that."
"Simos, do you know what it is?"
At Siren's question, Simos replied with a reluctant expression.
"That's a mine cart, the kind used in mines."
"A mine cart?"
"Specifically, the bottom part."
Utequais, who had been silently watching, rolled his wrist and stepped forward.
"Let's dig it out and see."
"Don't bother, step back."
The one who stopped Utequais was the young Mage Ethan. He glanced at Utequais briefly, then stood in front of the pile of stones and placed his palm on it.
"Hmm. Those young tricksters are all so rude."
Ignoring Utequais's words, Ethan began chanting a spell. Soon after,
Pashh.
The solid pile of stones crumbled into small pebbles and fine sand.
"Wow." As I let out an exclamation, Ellen puckered her lips and said.
"It's just an application of the Earth Shattering spell. What's so amazing about that?"
"Applying spells is considered difficult, isn't it? And he looks about your age, so isn't that impressive?"
"If that's considered impressive, I'd already be a Grand Master. And doing it this way is less efficient than just having Utequais clear it, isn't it?"
As Ellen said, the pebbles and sand remained in the same spot. But soon, as Siren placed a clay golem, the sand and pebbles clung to it like magnets, forming a large golem.
"...Using two spells just to clear a pile of stones, how inefficient."
"This isn't the time to be concerned about efficiency."
Where the pile of stones had been, there was now a cave entrance. Through that hole, a significant amount of magical power was flowing out.
I looked around at the party members. Among the tense faces, Utequais had a slightly mischievous smile.
"Hatanka takes the lead."
I also let out a small chuckle.
"Alright, slowpoke."
"I'm not slow!"
I patted Ellen's calf. Her blue eyes flickered for a moment.
"Stick close behind Utequais."
"Why do you have to be the one?"
"Because I'm the strongest." Ellen quietly floated up. I drew out Hrunting and looked around the party.
"Those who are scared can wait here."
My gaze landed on Atalante.
"...Why are you looking at me?"
"You don't have to come along if you don't want to."
"I think you're mistaking me for being too beautiful, but I'm a mercenary of the wasteland and my motto is unwavering loyalty." She shrugged and continued.
"I can't just sit back and let you take all the credit. That would be too much of a freeloader."
Atalante gave a refreshing smile. Agos and Vittorio simply kept their mouths shut, their eyes shining.
Next, my gaze turned to Amias' group. Amias, who had been looking around the group, carefully spoke up.
"...Can we be of help?"
I shook my head.
"Not much."
At that moment, Bald Steedman slapped the back of the silent Amias.
Whack!
"Ow, what are you doing?"
"I want to ask you something, you cowardly bastard."
"Damn it, this isn't the time to be emotional."
The freckled Mira quickly added.
"That's right. It's obvious this place is no good. What can we, the small fry, do?"
"You damn year, don't spout that cowardly crap so casually!"
As the three bickered, the archer Cole asked me.
"When you said we can't be of much help, did you mean we can be of some help?"
"Well, I guess."
Cole looked around at his comrades in silence and said.
"If we back out here, we're not mercenaries."
The silent lanky Boonie spoke up.
"That's right. Not mercenaries, but thugs, punks."
"...Damn it."
Leader Amias, scratching under his helmet, gripped his axe and looked at me.
"We'll be more helpful than you expect. We can each do our part now."
I scratched my eyebrow for a moment, then nodded.
"Alright. Do as you please."
Siren, who had been observing the conversation, stepped forward.
"Thank you, Sir Phoenix."
"What for?"
"For actively helping us like this."
...Ah, right. Come to think of it, this was just a simple escort mission. Since the destination was the mountain summit, going any further was not part of the contract.
Perhaps because I had heard about the lord's subordinates causing a ruckus, I had somehow started thinking of this as my own affair.
"Hmm."
I hesitated for a moment, then found the right words.
"The only order Prince Ulkar gave me was to protect the weak and do good."
"Huh? But-"
"If a dimensional collision occurs, countless innocent people will die. I'm simply following the prince's order, so there's no need to be grateful."
A touch of awe seemed to rise in Siren's large eyes. A few of the other party members had similar looks.
Certainly, the idol of the kingdom is an idol. Just the mention of Prince Ulkar makes them all swoon.
"Then, let's go."
Leading the party members who had steeled their resolve, I entered the cave.